Footprints in the Sand
by DreamingHummingbird
Summary: The ocean stirs the heart. The ocean inspires the imagination. The ocean brings eternal joy. When M4 goes to the academy's private island for a job, they just expect a normal job. However, a mysterious girl with amber eyes can't help but pull Subaru away for herself. Footprints in the sand fade away, but our memories remain. We are alive right now. We love what we do.


**Hei Hei! So...Summer is here, so what better way to spend it than by going on fanfiction? Also, stuffing myself with junk food. But yeah. Enjoy! Also, for the cliff, imagine the one Yume sang on during the Aikatsu Stars movie with Maori. THANK YOU MY DEAR TWIN SISTER, RINA, FOR BEING MY EDITOR!**

 **~Risa~**

Subaru stared out of the window and onto the streets as the car passed by an abundance of signs and trees. The car was filled with laughter from his fellow M4 members playing cards and blasting music, however he just sat there in thought.

"Subaru-kun, you won't join us?" Asahi offered, catching sight of Subaru's bored expression.

"Eh? Oh, I'm good. Thanks." Subaru replied. He decided to surf the internet as the boys headed to Four Star Academy's private island for their photo-shoot.

When they arrived, Subaru stepped out of the car to be greeted by the warm sun coaxing them in a blanket and the tropical air welcoming them into the scenery. It was foreign, but for some reason, vaguely familiar.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Nozomu noted when he saw Subaru close his eyes, allowing himself to be immersed in the tropicals. "Yeah..."

While waiting for the camera crew to set up, M4 changed into their outfits for the day. They were taking photos to promote the group and their new album, _Sunset Dreams._

"Okay, now look over here!"

The sounds of camera shutters and the blinding lights no longer bothered Subaru. More like they had become a pain and a never ending part of his life. Of course, he still worked hard during those types of work and he loved what he did, but he no longer felt the excitement and thrill he once felt when he first started out. _When did it become so...boring?_ He wondered. _It feels like something is missing...motivation? No... Am I working hard enough?_ His wonder was cut short by the producer's bellowing voice.

"Okay! That's a wrap for today! We look forward to working with you tomorrow!" The photography group returned into the Four Stars Villa while the boys remained outside, preferring to play around for a bit. Asahi was building a sandcastle with Nozomu while Kanata swam in the ocean. None of them seemed to notice a certain sapphire eyed boy slip away from the group and into the forest behind the villa.

There wasn't as much view as Subaru had hoped-trees, weird looking plants, rocks- but he found some comfort in the area.

"Who're you?" A voice called rather cautiously. It sounded like a girl...but what girl would be doing on the island? It was a private island, and as far as they were informed, they were currently the only ones visiting. It didn't sound like any of the staff or caretakers. Subaru debated on his decisions, wondering if he'd get killed any time soon. _Where's your sense of adventure?_ his pride teased him. _You still have a long life ahead of you,_ his instincts countered. Subaru bit his lip before slowly turning around, surprised to discover a pair of amber eyes, big and round. She didn't appear as a threat, her appearance way too typical for a normal teenage girl, but for now Subaru decided not to let her catch onto his caution. Her hair was long and wavy, turning from blonde to pink. Although her hair was down, something that made her stand out was a large pink bow on the left side of her hair.

"Isn't that my line?" He asked, lifting a challenging brow as he watched her face go red with not embarrassment, but anger.

"Wha- answer me first!" She whined childishly, crossing her arms. Subaru blinked before letting out a brief chuckle. "How childish, Boiled Octopus. I'm Yuki Subaru, fourteen years, and I'm part of M4." He introduced himself, holding out his hand with a smirk. He wasn't trying to sound arrogant, but considering she hadn't recognized him at first sight, it was obvious she was clueless about idols. A step in dominating the idol world was to ensure that "M4" was a household name. Apparently, they hadn't accomplished it yet despite their pictures being almost everywhere in and their constant guest appearances on multiple game shows and talk shows. Despite those theories he had listed in his mind, however, he watched as Yume's eyes widened in surprise before smiling brightly.

"Hmph. Well my name is Yume, Not Boiled Octopus." She announced, shaking his hand and then placing her hands on her hips."So I assume you're the same age as me?" He asked, but she just shook her head.

"I'm older than you think, despite my looks." She sang. Subaru hummed lightly before continuing his walk, only to stop and turn around five minutes later. "So? Why're you following me?" He asked.

"Why not?" She giggled, a sudden change in tone. "Oh, let me show you something!" Yume took his hand and began leading him through the tangled mess of trees and grass. Frankly, Subaru's instincts begged him to stray from the girl or to break free from her. Surely his friends were looking for him already anyways. Yet...something compelled the idol to stay. It wasn't any bad feeling like hypnotism (which in theory itself was already absurd), but maybe it was the racing of his heart that had been so unfamiliar up until now. The want to feel it again outweighed his sense.

After jumping over a small river and past a boulder, they found themselves on a cliff. Yume released his hand and laughed, running through the long blades of grass and plopping down onto the ground, disappearing from Subaru's sight. Not that it mattered. He was too busy admiring the view. The whole island was visible from where he was standing and the scent of wild flowers filled his mind. The waves crashed against the rocks nearby and the cliff was perfect for diving into the deep blue below.

"Whoa..." He gasped.  
"Cool, right?" She asked, suddenly appearing with a fiery red flower in her long and wavy blonde-pink hair. If he recalled correctly, that flower only grew on the island. She carefully put a matching flower behind his ear and smiled.  
"Suits you." A vein popped out of his head at that comment. "Are you calling me girly!?"

"No way, flowers are for everyone! But... maybe?" With that, he began chasing her around, a grin on his face before stopping once a sense of realization dawned upon him. _Why am I playing with a complete stranger? She could just push me off that cliff any second for all I know._ As if sensing his thoughts, Yume stopped running and gave a genuine smile. "Sorry for kinda-sorta-kidnapping you. It's been a while since I've met anyone."

"Why? Are you introverted?" He pondered, although he highly doubted that possibility, considering the amount of energy and enthusiasm she had just displayed.

"Not now, but I am shy when I'm home." She admitted (Subaru was surprised she didn't push him off the cliff for his ignorant comment). She turned to the cliff and noticed the sky shifting from a deep red to dark blue. "Oh, it's getting late. You should head back to your friends." Subaru suddenly realized that the sky was already dark and the moon was clearly visible.

"Oh...yeah."

"I'll walk you back." She offered, but he shook his head. "More importantly, where do you live? I haven't seen you at the school before."

"School? Oh... I was sent here to live with a relative that's part of the maintenance staff over here. I stay on the other side." She revealed and pointed in the opposite direction of the villa. Subaru concluded that that was the reason she knew her way around so easily and suddenly felt like a sudden pressure had been lifted off of him.

"Oh...Okay then. You good on your way back?"

"Yup, perfectly fine." With those final words, the pair parted without a word, but simple smiles.

When Subaru returned to the villa, a stampede of footsteps (belonging to only three boys) rushed towards him, the owners ambushing him on the spot.

"Where did you go!?"

"Why'd you leave?"

Subaru managed to explain to them that he had just walked along the beach for a bit and ended up walking until it was late to he rushed back. It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't like it was the complete truth either. The group seemed to relax after he assured them for the umpteenth time that night, but that didn't mean that the scolding was over.

"Don't do that!" Nozomu scolded as the group made their way to the dining hall. "Yeah, Yeah..." Subaru gave half-hearted replies to every scolding they had to offer, hearing them over a thousand times in the past few years they've been friends.

"Huh? Subaru-kun, did you pick a flower? I didn't think you were interested in flowers." Nozomu pointed out, plucking the red flower from behind Subaru's ear. "Oi! I'm not. It just... looked nice. That's all." Subaru replied, a tad flustered. _I forgot that was there! They're gonna tease me to no end!_ He groaned with frustration as that specific complaint caused his eyes to direct towards Kanata who seemed to be holding in a fit of laughter. Subaru made a mental note to replace his pillow with whip cream in a pillow case. It was a classic, but it never failed to work on Kanata.

"Eh~" Subaru snatched the flower back and rubbed the petals, before deciding to keep the flower in a mason jar in the kitchen anyways. He brought the jar to his room and set it by desk.

"You really like that flower, don't you." Asahi laughed lightly, standing by his door.

"Shut up."

* * *

"A new day, a new look." Kanata said as the four boys stepped out into the view of the glaring sun. A few days had passed since the group arrived at the island and so far, everything was going as scheduled. Subaru sat on a chair and held a wet glass of lemonade. They took a few pictures before Subaru downed the lemonade happily.

"That was refreshing." He beamed. "Subaru, you're doing good today! Keep it up!" The photographer praised. For some reason, Subaru wanted to hurry up and finish the shoot that day. Asahi then came running and the photographer snapped a photo, just in time to catch Asahi pinning a large pink ribbon in the shape of a bow onto Subaru.

"Asahi!" He growled, but he grinned as he plotted revenge, holding the ribbon. He blinked at the bow, feeling a nauseating familiarity with it. Carefully, he set it down and began to continue the shoot. When they finished, he hurried off into the jungle and brought a camera with him.

When he arrived at the hill, Yume was already there, dancing to a light, summery tune she hummed in the clearing, as usual. A strangely familiar tune. Subaru just couldn't help but lift the camera up and snap a picture. Yume turned at the sound of the shutter and smiled endearingly towards Subaru.

 _Ba-thump!_

"Subaru-kun!" Without noticing it, Yume had walked over to him and waved a hand in front of his face. Snapping back to reality, he jumped back a bit, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks. "Y-Yeah?"

"What's wrong? You seem really spaced out." She asked. "Oh, Yeah. Just thinking."

"About work?" She asked and stepped back, bending down to pluck a small flower.

"Sure." She twirled the flower in her hands before reaching up to put it behind her ear."What were you doing?"

"Dancing to the song of the winds, of course." She stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world (Even though she was humming her own tune :P). "Right. So are you the queen of the winds? I thought you were just humming the ocean's song yesterday. Traitor."

Yume giggled at that remark. "No, I'm just a normal villager passing by places." She took Subaru's hand and guided him, gliding through the grass, turning and twirling around while she hummed the soft melody. Suddenly, she stopped and released his hand, facing the cliff. "Want to go swimming?"

It was only then that Subaru realized that she was clad solely in a pink swimsuit and flip-flops. It made him wonder for a moment why it hadn't occurred to him sooner. He made a small debate in his mind on whether or not he should, but concluded that he would. He was wearing the blue swim trunks from the shoot anyways, so it would be weird if he didn't swim anyhow.

"Alright! Let's go down." Yume smiled, but he grabbed her arm before she could continue walking. "Where's your sense of adventure, Boiled Octopus?"

"I said don't call me that!" She whined, however the sapphire eyes boy paid no mind to her words and pointed to the cliff. Hey eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open. "You aren't thinkin-"

"Yup." A smile stretched across her features and she followed him to the top of the cliff. He set the camera onto the ground and began stretching a bit. They felt the wind pick up at the edge and watched the calm waves brush the rocks below. "Ready?" Although Subaru sounded calm, his heart was pounding with excitement as he leaned forward, letting his body cut through the air. He braced himself when the ocean drew near and felt his body collide with the surface of the ocean, almost like a big slap, before submerging underneath. He let out some air from the impact and quickly swimming up, giving a carefree yell. "That felt great!" He watched as Yume's head popped up from the water, the same smile on her face.

When the color of the sky began to shift to orange, the two began to swim back, with Subaru originally in the lead, but Yume sped up, quickly developing into an impromptu race. When Yume reached the shore first, she grinned tiredly and make a victory sign. "I win!" He couldn't help but let a burst of laughter escape him as he watched her face grow red from exhaustion. "What?" Subaru could only try (and fail) to control his laughter, desperately shaking his head.

After calming down, the pair decided to walk around the beach, unfortunately having to bear with the discomfort of sand remaining stuck against their feet and legs.

"So you do shoots over here...?" Yume drawled on as she made unusually large steps, jumping a bit to step at least three feet forward, and leaving behind a deep footprint and a puff of sand. "Yeah, over there by the villa. Wanna go meet my teammates?" Subaru offered with a light smile. She gently shook her head before plucking a beach rose nearby that once again, only grew on the island.

"No thanks. Maybe another time. In another place." She gently placed the flower behind his ear and waved, heading into the jungle as she always did. Subaru's gaze softened as he watched her retreating back, remembering that Yume was pretty much a mystery. He didn't know where she went, or what she did, or even her birthday or age. Yet, he felt some kind of attraction towards the blonde. He remembered her recent words and lowered his gaze to the sand in his toes.

 _Don't worry, I promise you. I'll get you flowers._ Subaru blinked at the words that ate away at his mind, but he quickly brushed them off.

"Wait!" He called. She turned around and all he could see was her silhouette against the fiery sky. The image itself seemed kind of unnerving. "Yes?"

"Uh...I-I left my camera on the cliff. Do you want to hold on to it until tomorrow?" He stuttered. She smiled and nodded her head at the offer. "Then I'll see you tomorrow, Boiled Octopus!" With those words, she left him in a hurry and he brought his hands up to his face. _Was I_ red...? He wondered.

"Subaru-kun! What're you standing out there for?" Nozomu asked and gestured for Subaru to return inside. "Coming..."

 _W-What's this?_ He questioned, reminding himself of the image of Yume, dancing, singing, playing. His heart raced when he was with her. It seemed so fun that he just couldn't help but join in. She gave him that excitement he had been lacking.

 _She'd be a great idol._ He concluded and disappeared into the warmly lit villa.

Subaru had collected his fifth flower.

* * *

"Subaru!" Kanata yelled from the kitchen. Groggily, Subaru sat up from his bed and nodded his head a bit, before ultimately falling back down. "Subaru-kun!" This time the voice was closer, and it was not Kanata's.

"Nozomu, be quiet." Subaru groaned, lightly pushing a pillow into Nozomu's face. "Unfortunately, I can't do that." With almost no effort, Nozomu successfully dragged the sleepy boy from the bed and had him stand. "Hurry and get dressed. Kanata's making breakfast today." Nozomu informed, jabbing his thumb to the door. "Right..." First, Subaru got dressed and walked down the stairs to be greeted with the strong scent of pancakes.

"Lovely." He grunted when he found that due to a game of tug and war with the syrup bottle, his pancakes were practically drowned in syrup.

"Sorry, Subaru-kun..." Asahi laughed nervously, and Subaru responded by pushing his overly sweet pancakes to the others. "I'll just eat something later." He decided, but the rest of the boys just stared at him with what seemed to be disbelief.

"Well, you would be willing to wait another five hours, Subaru-kun?" Nozomu asked. Subaru blinked. "Five hours?"

"Did you forget?" Kanata groaned. "We're leaving today."

"Eh? L-Leaving?" Subaru sputtered, clearly unaware.

"Yeah. The photo-shoot yesterday was the last, so we're heading back now." Nozomu nodded. Subaru quickly sprang to his feet. First, he ran up to their room and went back down with his flip-flops. "I need to get something I left real quick! Pack my stuff." He yelled, already out the door.

"Eh~" Asahi whined before grumbling something and proceeding to go upstairs to pick up Subaru's belongings.

Subaru ran through the jungle, feeling twigs snap from under his flip flops and some sand seep under the sole of his foot. "Yume! Yume!" He had to see her before he left. He _had_ to. "Yume!" He stumbled into the open lands which had been defined at their secret hideout from the past few days. He expected the wavy haired girl to be there as usual, dancing to her own song and smiling about everything, but no one was there. In fact, he could barely recognize the area. Flowers were nowhere in sight, only long, unkempt blades of grass and a rocky, bare cliff. His breath, heavy and uneven, almost stopped at the sight.

"What...? Yume!" He ran to the edge of the cliff and shouted her name once more. The only reply was the crashing of the waves. He clenched his fist, wrinkling the letter he had written the day before, unaware that the next day would've been his last. Subaru hoped that she would show up.

He knew she would.

But he had to go.

Gently setting the letter down on the ground, he placed a rock over it to keep it from flying away. He stood and stared at the items before walking away, turning back once as if the messy jungle he had seen was simply an illusion. However, the only scene that greeted him was the messy grasses with maybe a quiet ghost of laughter.

"Good-bye."

* * *

Subaru stared out of the window and onto the streets as the car passed by an abundance of signs and trees. The car was filled with laughter from his fellow M4 members playing cards and blasting music, however he just sat there in thought.

"Subaru-kun, you won't join us?" Asahi offered, catching sight of Subaru's bored expression. "Eh? Ah, Sure..." Subaru smiled a bit as he was handed a few cards.

"Oh yeah, Subaru wandering around during the evening had me remember an incident." Asahi spoke up, placing a card into the pile. "An incident?" Subaru echoed, eyes narrowing to ensure that his cards were safe from the view of the others.

"Yeah. I heard this from Nee-san who heard it from Hime-san, who heard it from the Song Class's teacher, Anna-sensei." Asahi listed. Subaru only sighed, wondering about the gossiping world of women.

"G-Gossip travels fast, I suppose." Nozomu chuckled.

"Anyways! Apparently there was a student in Anna-sensei's grade who attended Four Stars Academy and she was called an idol prodigy." Asahi began.

"A prodigy?" Kanata repeated. "Yeah. She was crazy good and everyone adored her. She was happy all of the time and apparently anyone could become happy just by being near her." Asahi nodded.

"But during an unauthorized trip to the island, the girl was killed during a forest fire." Asahi admitted. The bus grew silent, with only the calming background music being heard which, all of a sudden, wasn't so calming.

"S-She died? Why was she there in the first place?" Subaru asked. "She didn't sound like one to break rules."

"No, not normally. Apparently, she had gone to the island to get a sick fan some flowers that only grew on the island." Asahi nodded. "Subaru-kun, I think your parents took you to go see her when you were little. Three, right?"

"I don't know. I don't typically remember that far back, but all of my memories from when I was little is a bit foggy." Subaru shrugged. Subaru then reached into his backpack and blinked. _My camera...?_ He wondered when she had ever returned it, but shrugged, figuring Yume had given it to one of the M4 members. He looked through the pictures, smiling softly at the sight of Yume's happy expressions. He noticed a picture that he had never taken about their footprints in the sand on the day they went swimming. "Huh? Subaru-kun, you kept those flowers from the island?" Asahi asked, taking out the jar of flowers. Subaru's attention left the camera and to Asahi, who observed the flowers inside.

"Yeah. Someone gave them to me." Subaru nodded. "Who? Ah! Here! This is the one I was talking about!" Asahi quickly set his phone on his lap.

The boys gathered in front of the holographic screen presented from his phone which displayed the _Start Line!_ stage. "Huh? Didn't Hime-san perform that song?" Nozomu asked.

"Yup." The cheers from the crowd intensified once the light signaling the idol's entrance appeared.

"Nijino! Yume!" Subaru felt his entire being freeze in shock.

When the song began, despite hearing it many times, the boys couldn't help but smile when they saw how much fun she was having. Then they were awe-struck. When the chorus of the song came, her aura changed into a powerful rainbow aura. Anyone watching could feel how happy she was to perform.

The camera was moving, so the performer wasn't clear enough for them to identify a person yet, but Subaru was sure who it was. The blonde-pink hair, the voice, the style. That Yume was the same Yume from the island. it was undoubtedly her. "Huh? Subaru?" Without realizing it, the video ended, but Subaru was frozen in place. Something churned in his stomach and Subaru's mouth twitched.

"No...She can't be dead." He whispered. "Huh?" Subaru thought back to the activities he had done with Yume. She was physically there. He knew she was. She had touched him, he had touched her. Her arm was warm, _alive_. So why did he have so much doubt?

"Right! The pictures!" He scrambled to his camera and went to the pictures of Yume. He could see her clearly and tried desperately to show the others, but his fellow members simply raised an eyebrow. "Subaru-kun, no one is there." Nozomu admitted, feeling a bit sorry for his friend who looked like he was ready to break down, if not, throw up.

"W-What?"

 _Don't worry, I promise you. I'll get you flowers._ Once again, those words filled his mind. He clutched his head, suddenly becoming dizzy. Suddenly, he remembered a white room.

A hospital room. Yume entered the room in her S4 uniform and smiled, taking a seat next to the young Subaru's bed. "Everything's okay." She assured gently, taking his hand.

"What's your name?"

"Yuki...Subaru." He choked out. "Aha, you're face is very red! That's not good." She sang, but the three year old giggled at that statement. "Well then, Boiled Octopus. Don't worry, I promise you. I'll get you flowers." She smiled before standing up. "Nijino Yume will be taking her leave now!" she announced before leaving.

Subaru felt the tears sting his eyes. His heart felt heavy and his breath wasn't existent. "I killed her." The boys looked at Subaru in surprise.

"I killed Nijino Yume. But she didn't take revenge. She could only smile at me...s-she smiled..." Subaru felt warm tears slip down his face, so rapidly.

"Subaru...Don't tell me you-" Asahi began, but Subaru harshly cut him off.

"I was the sick fan! She could only smile at me! She didn't take revenge or anything!" He yelled, feeling the guilt, the fear, the sadness, the anger-everything.

"She didn't know she would die. It's not your fault." Kanata tried, but Subaru didn't calm down at all.

"You don't understand! I met her! She fulfilled her promise! But still..." He could only sob as he curled up into a ball, hugging his knees. "You met her...?"

Asahi noticed something white sticking out from the jar of flowers and reached over to take it out. His eyes fell upon the words written in cute writing.

"...'Dear Yuki Subaru. This was not your fault. By the time you are reading this, you probably already know about... You know. Anyways, I fulfilled my promise! You did too! You got healthy again and you even visited the island! Thanks for being my friend these last few days. It means a lot. Don't feel burdened by my death, and be sure you make people smile, like how I dreamed to do. That's the job of an idol! Oh, thanks for the pink ribbon. I'll treasure it.'" Subaru gasped, remembering the ribbon that was always in her hair. He had given it to her?

"'You probably don't remember, but you gave me my pink ribbon at my very first concert! Well, you were only two and your parents are actually the ones who got it for me, but it was cute, nonetheless. I'm sorry, I can't watch your concert, but I bet it's good. Good luck in the future! I love you. With love, Nijino...Yume...?'" Asahi read aloud, his eyes slowly becoming as wide as saucers. "What!? What is this!?"

"W-Where'd you get that?" Subaru asked, trying to control his breathing as he took the paper from Asahi's hands. "F-From inside the jar of flowers..." Asahi replied hesitantly. The car filled with silence as they tried to process the past few events.

"So. Subaru was communicating with a ghost this whole time?" Kanata clarified bluntly, totally destroying whatever mood there was. "Kanata-kun, be a little nicer when it comes to these things..." Nozomu sighed. But Subaru didn't really care. The letter was enough to bring a smile to his face.

 _Dear Yume,_

 _Although we didn't know each other for a long time, I'm glad to have met you. You made me more enthusiastic about my work after watching you perform on the cliff. I think you should be an idol too. You would be loved by everyone, I'm sure. If you ever decide to, audition for Four Stars Academy, the school I go to. they have a really good program. Anyways, I hope that someday we could meet again. Then you could meet my friends. Like you said, "Another time. In another place.". I hope the time is soon. also, don't worry. You will always be remembered... as the Boiled Octopus. If you wanna see me, don't hesitate to attend our concert. I'm sure you'll like them. This is my good-bye. Although you may not feel the same way, I'm sure I won't regret the next words I say._

 _I Love you._

 _Thank you for the flowers and your bright smile I got to see everyday. Our footprints that day was proof that were alive there. I will never forget you._

 _Best Wishes, Yuki Subaru._

Some idols will say that the incident was a lie. Some will say that the island was haunted. Others'd think it's a normal place. Yet, if people were willing to listen, if they were willing to go adventuring, then maybe-just maybe-there's be the faint sound of pure laughter and an angel's song, subtle in the wind.

 **Done! Thank you my dear sister for helping me on this story! So I might not get all my facts straight, but that's okay because I have something to entertain you guys and hopefully make up for me not updating Monochrome Rainbow.**

 **I'M HEADED FOR CALIFORNIA TOMORROW! WOOHOO!**

 **Anyways, please don't forget to review and I love you all!**

 **~Risa~**

 **Ahem! My name is Rina, and I'm the sister! I'm this kid's editor apparently! This child needed a lot of fillers in between things in this story, so...wish her luck. -_-**


End file.
